‘Well, Bush is not a dog that
learns new tricks.  

In the last couple of days, in
response to an outcry against nuking Iran and a near military revolt of the
brass against Rumsfeld and the failed executive branch leadership in the war
with Iraq, how does Bush respond? 

First, as hundreds protest in
Palo Alto, California, he meets privately with a think tank (the Hoover
Institute) that promotes attacking Iran. Then he announces that even if the
Iraqi government pulls itself together (which it won't really, just in name
only), Bush isn't planning on pulling any U.S. troops out. (Because, of course,
it's all about the oil and permanent U.S. military bases.) 

Meanwhile, our
"Godfather" Vice-President Cheney found a new hobby besides shooting
people who get in between his shotgun and a bird; he took a nice little nap
while the Chinese President was visiting. 

And wasn't that visit by the
Chinese President - who represents a country that makes half the cheap stuff in
Wal-Marts and has leant America hundreds of billions of dollars in money to
cover the Bushevik national debt - a scream! I mean, at the very moment Bush
was voicing some platitudes about more freedom being needed in China, a woman
protesting the persecution of the Falun Gong followers in China gets up and
shouts against their torture, imprisonment and execution by the Chinese
government. 

How does Bush respond to this act
of exercising First Amendment rights in America? Well, he has the woman hustled
out of the ceremony, charged with a federal crime, and - for the first time in
memory - actually apologizes for something. He tells the Chinese President he
is sorry that the woman marred their meeting. 

So, let's get this straight, a
woman who protests on behalf of the freedom of followers of a Chinese
religious/philosophical movement is vilified, manhandled and charged with a
federal crime for speaking out in America, while Bush politely reads a PR
statement about the need for more freedom in China? 

Say what? George Orwell is smiling
somewhere. 

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